tickticktick
by sliverMe
Summary: The clock was ticking slowly yet constantly. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Never ending. That was, well, until I plucked out the undersized batteries at the back of that aggravating, innocent clock. Nevertheless, time was still going endlessly.


Clichéd plot, As usual. You've been warned. Anyways, happy reading fanfictioners! (:

Disclaimer: I won't ever own Alice Academy. Ever. ):

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><p>-}|{ -<p>

_Our love is my life._

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><p>The clock was ticking slowly yet constantly. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Never ending. That was, well, until I plucked out the undersized batteries at the back of that aggravating, innocent clock. Nevertheless, time was <em>still<em> going endlessly.

Consequently, this act put me into deep slumber and put me into a familiar, distorted chain of seemingly eternal dreams.

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"_Ji-chan, can you buy me a Howalon first thing tomorrow?" A cute pigtailed girl crawled towards her bony grandfather, before releasing her puppy dog eyes equipped with an adorable pout technique to unfailingly persuade her Ji-chan to buy her the 'sweetest and fluffiest food ever created in this world' - as she always quoted. Eventually and easily, she had made her way._

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_A certain raven haired gal made her way towards a walking brunette who didn't even notice her presence until she tapped her shoulder, successfully stopping her and thereby causing the brunette to turn around to the person who had tapped her._

"_Do I know you?" She asked as she creased her perfectly shaped eyebrows to the beautiful stranger who just raised her eyebrows in return. But upon further inspection, she realized that it was her newly transferred classmate. "Oh, sorry Imai-san, I hadn't recognized you right away! Hahaha.. I'm Sakura Mikan. Just call me Mikan!" She grinned widely then extended her slender hands._

"_Mikan, would you care to join me here?" She coolly inquired, not minding Mikan's hand at all, while handing her a singing event for kids their age. "Since cute girls must flock together." She quickly added with a knowing eyes, clearly showing that she was plotting something little Mikan couldn't even decipher that time._

_Flabbergasted at her frankness, and the unknown feeling of attraction towards the beauty, plus the idea of performing in her small town, the brunette just nodded frantically. Effectively making her giddy in the insides. Knowing that right there and then, Hotaru Imai had captured her heart._

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_He knew that right there and then, that that running brunette girl had captured his heart the moment she made an eye contact with him even for just a brief moment. Natsume Hyuuga was captivated by her enchanting eyes though filled with tears. Running after to that certain mysterious girl, he made a solemn vow that he would protect her. Love her even. _

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"_Mikan, promise me this, don't you ever love a Hyuuga." Ji-chan reminded Mikan since news came up to him that Mikan and Natsume were getting along quite well. In fact, they were getting along greater than being just 'well'. _

"_Ji-chan, quit that, you know very well that we are just best friends. Hmm… on a second thought, we're more like on a brother-sister relationship thing. That's all we could ever be. " Mikan offhandedly replied with a wide smile she always had, not taking in her grandfather's advice seriously and his weighted stare._

"_Mikan, just make sure of that."_

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"_Natsume, are you really sure of what you had said?" Mikan questioned dumfounded by the fact that Natsume had just confessed his suppressed feelings for her._

"_I love you, Mikan. I really do from the moment I comforted you back then…" he trailed of._

"_Natsume, I uh.. love you too." Mikan said rather squeaky as she hugged Natsume tightly, unable to hide her bottled up feelings for him._

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_Unable to hide her growing frustrations to her grandfather, she eyed him then pleadingly said, "Ji-chan please tell me why can't be with Natsume?" This time, tears freely fell on her porcelain face. She didn't mind it though, what she wanted was the truth from her Ji-chan._

"_Mikan, just trust me… stop seeing Hyuu-"_

"_Stop? Ji-chan! Just tell me why should I?"_

"_Because, Natsume i-"_

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"_Natsume, promise me one thing. Can we keep this a secre-"_

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"Typical," came the distinct cold voice of the ever stoic Hotaru Imai as she incessantly tapped her foot and as that particular dream went to oblivion, waking me in the process. "Get up or I'll leave you."

"Hmmm… one more minute, pleaaasssee…" I moaned while adjusting the soft cottony blanket up to my head just to block any light that would hinder me from continuing my sleep.

"By the way, school starts in 15 minutes." She bluntly replied, turning around to leave me alone in my room.

Just as she was about to open the door, my head snapped up, eyes grew wide from the realization and I instantly rushed out of my bed, and then wrestled my way to the dress room. "Moe Hotaru. Why didn't you wake me earlier? You surely awaken my sleeping blood."

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><p>"I can't believe you, Hotaru." I retorted while rolling my eyes when Hotaru looked at me, eyebrows raised as if challenging me whose fault is it that she easily tricked me. Yes, she tricked me into coming to school exactly one hour before school started which was also way beyond my usual time. "You know all too well that I'm not an early bird and for the record, this will be my first time being here at this ungodly hour. And…" I continued on with my unheard ranting just as she cleverly and effortlessly countered me with a simple 'hn' uninterruptedly walking her way to her seat.<p>

I followed suit whilst pouting to my best friend's renowned reply. "You know what? You really remind me of Natsume whenever you hn-ed at me," I slightly giggled at that thought and continued before Hotaru could even disrupt me, "And if I wasn't her girlfriend for five years and your best friend for eternity, I would've thought you were siblings exclude the differences in the eye color. You guys could easily win on poker, ya know." _Well, if I wasn't also his…_

Knowing that I was thinking _that_, she softly interjected, "Don't even think about it. We will find out whether it's true or not. For now, don't mind it." This totally broke off my chain of thoughts just as she intended. I then gave her a small smile just to reassure her that it was okay, that I was also okay.

A comfortable silence stumbled upon us until Hotaru said that she was going to the comfort room. Again, it was silent and kind of lonely when Hotaru left her place, then I heard a sugary soft voice gradually becoming clearer as seconds passed and obviously, as she came nearer to our classroom. Then she laughed, a high pitched one which reverberated throughout the deserted hallway but it was still sweet with some hint of flirtatious tone to it. And oh, she was accompanied by someone who had a husky voice and who had been trying to make her laugh even more.

They laughed. Voices became more obvious. I waited.

They were still laughing. Voices were still becoming more and more obvious. I was still waiting for Hotaru.

They were laughing harder than before. Well, their voices were becoming really awfully clearer than before. Also I was…

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…waiti- then recognition dawned to her. _Natsume! _The guy laughing was Natsume! And he was with a girl! A girl whose voice I couldn't even recognize.

Ignoring the throbbing pain growing on my insides, I nervously went outside the classroom, waiting for Hotaru fully forgotten. I was silently convincing myself that that voice wasn't Natsume's. Maybe my ears were just playing a trick on me. I was outside the classroom by the time that I released the air I wasn't aware that I was holding in. I proceeded at the room next to ours and also the room that I was hearing their muffled voices, their laughter had died down. I clasped my already sweaty hands together as to gather enough confidence to peek inside at the previously opened room.

I gasped at what I saw. Eyes as big as saucers, tears were quickly brimming on them. Skin as pale as snow, blood draining on my system. By now those sweaty hands was on my mouth so as to not make any unnecessary noise that would expose me to them. _I need to breathe. _I get out of them as quietly as I could. When I was out of their earshot, I walked faster, run then dashed out of the school. Out of their lives. Out of my life.

_That's not Natsume. _It was Natsume!

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_Mikan, sorry. Can't meet u today. I hve impt thng to do _

_-Natsume_

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_He won't do this to me… h-he said that he loves me very much! _ He can do this to you! You had seen it with your own two eyes!

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_I hve to meet up w/ someone. Sorry, can't accompany u. txt Imai instead. Love you._

_-Natsume_

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Thoughts of him kissing me, hugging me, comforting me filled my mind as I run aimlessly. I run faster all the while trying to block out all those _fake _memories. Trying to forget about him, about my secret.

By the time I was exhausted I was at the front of my house. Then a thought had struck me: I was so blinded by love that I hadn't realized that he was really slipping away from me. Especially these past few weeks. Reality sure was really eating me now. I was so blinded by our love that I never lamented when my grandfather died. I never truly was because I knew Natsume was there by my side. I became a bad girl. And every bad girl must be punished.

I entered our house. I walked straight, not really recognizing anything from my surrounding…

Klaaaakkkk.

…Until a broken vase snapped me out of my stupor. I looked at the broken vase and smiled at the irony of it all. I sat. A shard of the vase was glaring into me now as if it was trying to say something.

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><p>My life was passing by so quickly yet in disarray. I crawled. I stood. I walked. I run. I dashed. Swiftly. That was, well, until I hauled out my hand-sized heart on my aching chest. Nevertheless, their lives were <em>still<em> going mindlessly.

Before this life completely perished, have I ever told you my secret? That Natsume and I are actually cousins? He didn't even know it. Only Ji-chan, Hotaru and I did. I was only adopted by Ji-chan when I was just a baby. Then out of nowhere, I heard the grandfather clock which was placed a good 10 feet away from me ticking. Slowly but surely. Tick. Like my breathing… Tick. Slowly… Tick. But unsurely…

Time was _still_ going endlessly yet my life ended here.

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><p>-}|{ - End. -}|{ -<p>

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><p>An: yeah, I know it's completely hideous that you remove the batteries at the clock just because it is ticking but have you ever experience hating a clock just because it constantly makes sounds when all you want to do is to sleep soundly? Well, that happened to me but I couldn't stop it since it was a wall clock. :D Love it? Hate it? Or just average? Tell me!


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